The BYU men’s basketball team concluded the preseason by defeating Findlay 90-61.
Similar to the first preseason game, the Cougars started off slow with the game tied at 12 nine minutes in.
Senior guard Craig Cusick credited Findlay for how they came to play.
“Findlay is a good team, one of the best Division II teams in the country,” Cusick said. “They came at us, but once we were able to get the ball moving we started to get it going.”
The Cougars were able to get the ball to Brandon Davies and Tyler Haws, which helped them get over the slow start in a hurry.
Davies honored a former BYU and Provo High School teammate, Chris Collinsworth, by wearing his jersey during the game. Over the summer, Collinsworth announced he would no longer be able to play for BYU due to a career-ending injuries.
Davies finished the game with 14 points and 13 rebounds in 23 minutes of play. Haws was the team’s leading scorer with 19 points.
BYU was strong on the offensive glass with 18 rebounds which led to 21 second chance points. BYU also shot 41 percent from the field compared to Findlay’s 31 percent.
Every player who dressed for BYU scored and Cusick contributed part of that to Coach Rose.
“Coach Rose doesn’t really recruit anyone who doesn’t shoot, even our bigs,” Cusick said. “We have so many good shooters on this team.”
Freshman guard Cory Calvert saw considerable playing time, receiving 18 minutes.
“It’s great playing here,” Calvert said. “I just want to do whatever I can for the team. “I want to play my hardest and help the team win.”
Along with Calvert, many other Cougars saw lots of minutes on Saturday which is evidence of the depth Rose has.
Rose is happy with the depth he has, but wants to see the team come together on a more regular basis.
“Our real priority moving forward now is to get us to play together as a group with one goal,” Rose said. “The issue with this group, after 19 practices, is consistency.”
Rose added that the main focus leading up to the first regular season game will be pushing the team to come together as a group.
BYU will host Tennessee State on Friday, November 9 at 7 p.m. for the season opener.
